STATUS: Everyone should take a holiday before the holidays. I just wish I was here for the next 2 weeks as well. It’s been snowing in Denver but the weather is beautiful here in the Caribbean.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN by Neil Diamond (hey, it’s what is playing in the lobby of the hotel as I type this!)
I can’t think of a better way to kick of the weekend then by sharing with you another creative promotion by my author Simone Elkeles.
This goes far beyond the normal book trailer—which is exactly what Simone wanted to achieve for her book PERFECT CHEMISTRY.
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PC is basically a contemporary retelling of West Side Story but without the musical numbers. It’s edgy and funny and this rap video trailer exactly captures that (and of course, gives us music that can’t be captured in the book!)
If you are a YA libriarian or bookseller, feel free to grab the link from youtube and post. The video featured on my blog is more PG-rated but if you need a G-rated version, here’s a link where you can download it or put it on your iPhone. I also click on the link to the ‘making of’ video which is pretty hilarious in its own right.
Enjoy!
Kristin, I just watched the trailer. I love it! What a GREAT marketing tool. Simone, I hope this ups your exposure and sales. I’m keeping this baby in mind for my novel about a rock goddess turned domestic goddess turned rock goddess – a music video? Brilliant! (Karen Carter is doing the copy editing.)
Oh, my gosh! That’s brilliant.
I loved this! It was professional enough to look great and amateur/funny enough to keep its YouTube cred and not look like some kind of boring publisher commercial. Plus the song is stuck in my head now, which I’m sure is the idea!
Completely brilliant, thanks for posting this.
Hilarious! What a fantastic tool!
I’ve always hated book trailers. I understand that they’re a powerful marketing tool, especially in this age when it’s presumed that a work of any popularity will be optioned as a movie but they do a lot to un-sell me.
They force visuals on the reader. Like movie trailers, they can be hugely misleading about the substance of the work. They also make me wonder why a book can’t be sold on its literary merits, thus making me less likely the read the book than if I’d read a good review or just seen it in a B&N display.
Here’s something that you might not know. Many teachers (including me) work at schools where youtube is blocked. But–teachertube isn’t. If you upload book trailers to that site in addition to youtube (just a few more clicks) you’ll have a much larger potential audience of teens and teachers! Personally, I love showing book trailers to my students–but can only show the few that are uploaded to teacher tube!
Thanks for posting this, Kristin!
It was a lot of fun to produce, and it would never have been done if you hadn’t done your magic and sold the book.
Teachers who have YouTube blocked have told me they’re just watching the video on my website at http://www.simoneelkeles.net – it should work fine there if you have problems with YouTube.
Enjoy!
Wow, thank you for posting this, Kristin. It’s amazing.
And thank you for the idea, too, Simone. 🙂 This is so not my usual genre, but I might just go buy it now. The song really does stick to your mind.
A great film and a gorgeous idea. Thank you for sharing it, and the making of as well 🙂
Dear Kristin and Simone,
What a great trailer!
Would it be possible for you to blog about how it was made?
😉
Tamara
I got to hold an ARC of Perfect Chemistry in my hands at an RWA meeting, and read the first page…. and boy can I ever not wait until it is released to read the rest!
🙂
Talk about taking things to a new level, Simone!
What a fantastic video, Simone! I’ve got that catchy tune in my head–“It’s a book.” 🙂
Thanks for posting it, Kristin!
Wow.
Just, wow. Excelente!
I’m even somewhat fluent in Spanish, so that had an added fun for me. I don’t even like rap, but this…
This was fun. And memorable. And, even though it’s not “my kinda book”, I may just check it out thanks to this vid.
Very cute! Several of my author friends have been doing book trailers this past year. Interesting all the way around 🙂
I like the guy in the pink shirt. He’s got moves. 🙂
I’m not big on book trailers–but this one was a lot of fun. Made me want to check out the book even though I’m likely not the intended audience.
I think literature just died a little.
Huh…I like that the author went out of the box, but if this book doesn’t look like it captures every single cliche about lower-class American life, I don’t know what does.
And wow…a gang-banger? Such a violent, angry lifestyle that isn’t “redeemed” by love–it’s the result of the racist-driven social stratification of US society. Fiction is fiction and all, but it’s really irritating to see authors use gangs as a short-cut for “bad boy” when it is one of the most destructive forces in the ghetto.
I just scrolled through past entries specifically so I could comment on this- I first got interested in Perfect Chemistry when you posted this entry and yesterday I finally picked it up. I started it at around noon over lunch today and just finished it a few minutes ago. I absolutely ADORE it! I’ve never really liked YA romance because for some reason I’ve never been able to find one that really clicked with me. I wish this book had been around when I was 15 or so.